Featured suspects of this chapter (don't forget, Team 7 is always counted as suspects as well):

Ino: Every group has to have a loud, boisterous somebody. Ino is that somebody. She likes to think of herself as the leader of Team 10. The boys just go along with it because they know that if they disagree, they'll get bonked on the head. Her long-time rival is Sakura…and they are always competing for Sasuke's attention. Not that he's ever going to give either of them a second thought. Her desired color is yellow and her summon is a boar.

Shikamaru: Smarter than the rest of the rookie 9 put together. Also lazier than the rest of the rookie 9 put together. However, he is able to formulate plans that actually work. He is also the only chuunin in the rookie 9. But although he's a chuunin, he thinks everything to be troublesome. Especially Ino. His desired color is …well it's just too troublesome to tell. But his summon is a deer.

Chouji: Chomping all day, chomping all night, that bag of chips never gets a rest! Big is beautiful! His desired color is tan; the color of potato chips. And his summon is a nice, stout piglet. His piglet and Ino's boar get along pretty well. Unfortunately, that's hardly the case for their summoners.

Mystery 2: More Cheese, Please!

Naruto licked his lips hungrily as he chomped down into another slice of cheese that was as big as a slice of pizza. Except it was cheese. 'Neh he he…who cares if Chouji's competing, I got this one beat!' he thought.

That's right…it was Konohakagure's annual cheese festival, and as usual, there was a cheese eating contest going on. Tables were set up near the Memorial Block and most of Konoha was gathered there to watch. The Godaime reluctantly agreed to judge the competition. However, she did not want to count the actual pieces of cheese eaten, so that job was given to none other than Shizune and their pig TonTon. The contest was already well ahead, and it had whittled down to but six contestants: Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, and of course, Chouji. The cheese is counted by each round, and the one who eats the fewest slices of cheese is disqualified. In a case of a tie, both (or all, depending on how many are tied) contestants are disqualified, unless of course, it is the final round, and then there would be a tie-breaker.

And as for the finalists…

Naruto was in it for the cheese, and of course, the Hokage was going to be watching him and he would definitely show her that he's Hokage material when he wins this competition. In this round, he had already eaten four slices of cheese.

Sasuke was bribed by his sensei, Kakashi, in to thinking that he would win a new move even more powerful than the famed Chidori…if he won. In the current round, he had already eaten five slices of cheese.

Sakura and Ino were fueled by their rivalry for one another to eat the most cheese. And to impress their Sasuke-kun. Each of them had already eaten three slices of cheese.

Shikamaru's father, Shikato, had once beaten Chomaru, Chouji's father. This set a real burst of pride…and ego…within him. And now, he wants Shikamaru to carry on the family name by beating Chouji in the cheese eating contest. Shikamaru thought it way too troublesome, but Shikato insisted. In fact, Shikato did not let Shikamaru eat any meals for two days straight. And that's why Shikamaru was eating like a starved man…because he was one. In that matter, Shikamaru had already eaten a whopping seven slices of cheese.

Chouji. 'nuff said. Chouji would have eaten the entire block of cheese if not for the rule that stated that only one slice of cheese would be eaten at a time. But because of his gorging of cheese in the earlier rounds, he had miraculously slowed down and was tied with Shikamaru at seven slices of cheese.

The finalists hungrily grabbed more pieces of cheese. The finalist who had eaten four slices had gobbled up three more. So did the finalists who had already eaten three slices.

A finalist who had eaten seven slices calmly used his weapon to slice another block of cheese into pieces. He sighed and lazily set two more pieces on his plate, setting the handle of his weapon down on the table. He nibbled at the first slice. He wasn't feeling all that hungry anymore after the previous five rounds and thought that he could have a small rest while still competing.

Meanwhile, the contestant who was bribed into the competition doubled his cheese count. The second contestant to have seven slices also doubled his cheese count.

The blocks of cheese were slowly depleting.

'Ah, soon there'll be no more to take!' a frustrated contestant said, scratching the back of his blonde head. He shrugged off the thought and continued on his eighth piece of cheese.

"Ino-pig, you eat just like your summon," a contestant said while eating two more slices.

"Oh yeah? You LOOK just like your summon," Ino retorted, two more slices more than the person whom she retorted to.

"My summon is better looking than YOURS," the contestant said back, chomping on another piece of cheese.

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" Ino bit her thumb and performed a few seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" she said, slamming her hand down on the table.

A puff of smoke appeared and for a second, everyone was momentarily blinded. During this time, the contestant who currently had eight slices stole four slices of cheese from Chouji, who was sitting next to him, and set them on his plate. Sasuke stole two from Shikamaru, who was looking annoyed at the girls in front of him. He also set the pieces on his plate.

However, when the smoke cleared, a giant boar sat at their table. It snorted and started to stand up, knocking over a whole, untouched block of cheese in the process. And unfortunately for the two cheaters, half of each of their stolen cheese was also knocked to the floor.

Naruto started to complain. "Ino, you idiot, why'd you have to go and do that for!"

Ino started to argue back with Naruto, while Sakura seized the opportunity to eat three more pieces of cheese. Shikamaru ate two more pieces while Chouji ate one, and Sasuke ate what was left on his plate.

The argument in the middle of the table started to get worse.

And finally…

"Oh yeah? I bet three of me can out-eat your boar! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Two more of the person who just spoke suddenly appeared and all three started to grab the blocks of cheese.

Meanwhile, Tsunade sighed. "Can't these kids even eat cheese properly?" she muttered. Out loud she said, "All right, all right! That's enough. Shizune, tally their scores right now and we'll go on to the next round."

However, before Tsunade made her declaration, and before two clones were created, Naruto had gobbled down the pieces of cheese on his plate while arguing with Ino, who hadn't even thought of eating while arguing.

Everyone suddenly stopped eating their cheese and looked expectantly up at Shizune. She counted the pieces of cheese. And stared blankly at the piece of paper.

"Well, what is it?" Tsunade asked, impatiently.

"Well Godaime-sama…I don't think this has ever happened before," Shizune said, grinning as she held the paper out to the Hokage. TonTon snorted in amusement.

What is the final cheese count for each contestant? Who's disqualified from going into the next round?